CARS, lorries and buses hooted support along the busy Bath Road on the perimeter of Heathrow Airport in west London yesterday morning as 1,400 Terminal 5 security officers took their 17th day of strike action.
Speaking on the picket line, Ali told News Line: ‘We are striking for a cost of living pay rise. They’ve offered 10% and a lump sum of £1,150 with terms and conditions attached, allowing them to bring third party staff in to work alongside us.
‘If you look at the cost of living everything is going up way beyond 10%. We have put in for a 19.7% increase and that is what we are fighting for.
‘We met Unite general secretary Sharon Graham two days ago and she said there will have to be action to defeat the new Tory anti-union law.
‘If you can’t strike to stand up for your rights where are your democratic rights?’
Unite has accused Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) airport of cynically attempting to suppress pay for its lowest paid workers.
Unite leader Graham said: ‘Heathrow has been caught red-handed trying to use smoke and mirrors to deflate the earnings of its lowest paid staff.
‘It is cynically using the increase in the London Living Wage as an excuse not to pay them a full pay increase. Frankly, it is shameful. We cannot accept that our lowest paid members are having their pay ripped off in this way.’
Unite says that the T5 security officers are now paid between £5,000 and £6,000 per annum less than their counterparts at Stansted and Gatwick.
Unite regional officer Wayne King said: ‘HAL has been exposed for the grasping, greedy entity that it truly is. Our members have seen pay reduced to such an extent that some workers are forced to use food banks, miss meals and default on rent and mortgage payments.
‘Now there is this attempt to cheat the lowest paid workers out of their dues. It looks as if the moral compass of Heathrow Airport Ltd is well and truly broken.’